Just throwing this out there to stir the pot. I was flipping through Heroes & Rogues for the umpteenth time the other day and wondered if anyone here has any experience running or playing an Imperial campaign. I don't mean dark jedi or something uber ridiculous, but something simple. The everyday run-of-the-mill Imperial citizen, maybe a group of cadets at the Imperial Academy or a ground-pounding Army campaign.
Heroes & Rogues makes a great case for running a campaign as such, and seems to provide a lot of conflict, especially if you adopt the attitude of a character who believes they're doing what's right, by maintaining order and law, without seeing the evil for which the Empire stands.
And I was curious if anyone might be interested in a PbP campaign like this on the Pit.

Yeah, I've played in a couple campaigns like this, though one of them did involve a sith character (my character) who did not reveal his sith identity to either the group nor the rest of the galaxy... so wasn't uber powerful crazy.

Playing Imperial is a lot of fun and presents a lot of interesting personality/outlook elements for the characters. The imperial troops and people do not think they're evil. The citizenry and low level members of the government are really no different than the rebel types; they believe in what they're doing and that it's what's best for the galaxy, peace and prosperity. It's what they've been taught and haven't seen much to say otherwise. The really high ups (those calling the shots) likewise believe they're doing the right thing, just they have a different ethic than the rebels; for them the greater good outweighs the the fate of the few... therefore are willing to make greater sacrifices to attain their goals; ends justify the means and all that jazz. No sacrifice/destruction is without "greater" reason.

Playing imperial can be a lot of fun, and I'd probably be willing to join a PbP game in that vein._________________Hotaru no Hishou; a messageboard about games, friends and nothing at all.

I don't mean dark jedi or something uber ridiculous, but something simple. The everyday run-of-the-mill Imperial citizen, maybe a group of cadets at the Imperial Academy or a ground-pounding Army campaign.

If you were to play any sort of Empire style campaign, it really wouldn't be all that hard to incorporate force users, since the Emperor has personal hands who are force sensitive, or use Sense to track opponents and criminals down, while kept secret they would probably have a lower ranking position within the empire as something legitimate.

Jumping from someone who uses the force to a Dark Jedi wouldn't be that difficult, since maybe during one of the missions they could discover some old computer records detailing things about the old Sith, like the Brotherhood of Darkness, Naga Sadow, Darth Bane, Darth Revan, or any other countless stories about the powers of the ancient sith.

_________________"I believe the Jedi are weak so they give up their emotions. I believe the Sith are weak so they give up to their emotions. I lay somewhere in the middle, not afraid to keep my emotions, but afraid to lose myself in them." - Daroth Mortanis

I know it wouldn't be hard to incorporate Force users and I'm sure they're a fun and exciting aspect of SWRPG, but personally I've never been to keen on playing them or having them in a campaign.
First and foremost, the original trilogy will be the utmost source of inspiration and canon for me. And in ANH through ROTJ I was given the impression that there were almost zero Jedi or force-users of import throughout the galaxy. That's why I've always steered clear of playing any during the Galactic Empire time period. That and I figured if the Emperor needed someone to spy on a regular Army or Navy unit, a competent COMPNOR agent would suffice. Personally, the CompForce trooper is one of my favorite characters on the Imperial side. Gives you an excuse to be extra snotty to anyone else.
I don't suppose someone would be interested in GMing an Imperial Grunt campaign...hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge.

I've played in an Imperial game before and it was a lot of fun. We were in the outer rim and we did good things. We helped quell a violent revolt on a planet where a monarch's brother (pissed that' d he'd never be the ruler) tried to murder the royal family and take the palace by force.

As it was an Imperial planet the Imperials were called and we saved the day. The GM was of the opinion that many Imperial personal believe in the Emperor and that overall the Empire is a force for order and good._________________Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

I know it wouldn't be hard to incorporate Force users and I'm sure they're a fun and exciting aspect of SWRPG, but personally I've never been to keen on playing them or having them in a campaign.
First and foremost, the original trilogy will be the utmost source of inspiration and canon for me. And in ANH through ROTJ I was given the impression that there were almost zero Jedi or force-users of import throughout the galaxy. That's why I've always steered clear of playing any during the Galactic Empire time period. That and I figured if the Emperor needed someone to spy on a regular Army or Navy unit, a competent COMPNOR agent would suffice. .

Yes, but most regular grunts in the imperial army is going to be able to sense if someone is strong in the force so that they could kill them/use them.

And, I wasn't suggesting that the force user in the group be spying on the other people in the group. Instead that he is using them a cover for his real abilities, thus keeping the Force is an old and washed out religion in the minds of the imperials. Of course Palpatine using the weapon that he thinks no one else has. Until the Death Star gets blown up that is lol._________________"I believe the Jedi are weak so they give up their emotions. I believe the Sith are weak so they give up to their emotions. I lay somewhere in the middle, not afraid to keep my emotions, but afraid to lose myself in them." - Daroth Mortanis

... in ANH through ROTJ I was given the impression that there were almost zero Jedi or force-users of import throughout the galaxy.

Awesome
The extremely high number of Jedi running around in the classic era in most RPGames has been a point of some conflict for me in the past. While it's fun to play Jedi, I personally have to put a lot of thought into whether or not to play one in the classic era; I seem to be one of the few though Adding in Jedi here and there throughout the galaxy during the timeframe can really alter the setting as established in our original canon; while most people seem to have no problem with that, I do.

Even when it was common, Force ability was still rare in the Galaxy... so even outside of the Classic Era, they shouldn't be rampant in the Galaxy, though it should be possible to run into someone with it from time to time. In the Classic Era there should be virtually none, other than Palpatine, Vader, Luke and a couple others... and no one knows about Palpatine's role as Force user._________________Hotaru no Hishou; a messageboard about games, friends and nothing at all.

Other than Yoda, Obi-Wan, Vader, and Luke. And maybe Senator Organa, though I am not sure about that_________________"I believe the Jedi are weak so they give up their emotions. I believe the Sith are weak so they give up to their emotions. I lay somewhere in the middle, not afraid to keep my emotions, but afraid to lose myself in them." - Daroth Mortanis

Vader doesn't count.
Luke doesn't know until perhaps the end of ESB, and then it's only hinted to him. He only knows for certain for a brief period before Palpatine's death.
Obi-Wan and Bail die fairly early on in ANH, and Obi-Wan spent the time between finding out Palpatine was Sith and his death as a hermit, unable to pass the information on. As for Bail, it's never stated that Palpatine is Sith to him, most everything he's involved in revolves around Anakin/Vader (unless there is exposition outside of what is seen in ROTS).
Yoda, again, was in the same situation as Obi-Wan; spending his time since learning of Palpatine in seclusion.

Effectively, these people don't influence the greater galaxy and their ignorance of Palpatine's nature. "No one", in this context refers to the greater galaxy in a general sense, not an absolute sense... mind you, a couple dozen to hundred individuals within the billions upon billions inhabiting the galaxy (if we're to include the various dark Jedi/inquisitors/whatever provided in the EU), all but a small handful of which are dedicated to preserving the secret, is but a drop of water in an ocean; insignificant enough to be discounted.

That's what I meant by "No one knows"._________________Hotaru no Hishou; a messageboard about games, friends and nothing at all.

Well, "Only a sith deal in absolutes" _________________"I believe the Jedi are weak so they give up their emotions. I believe the Sith are weak so they give up to their emotions. I lay somewhere in the middle, not afraid to keep my emotions, but afraid to lose myself in them." - Daroth Mortanis

There is a possibility that Yoda could have told Bail when the Senator came to his rescue after his duel with Palpatine...maybe...

Precisely._________________"I believe the Jedi are weak so they give up their emotions. I believe the Sith are weak so they give up to their emotions. I lay somewhere in the middle, not afraid to keep my emotions, but afraid to lose myself in them." - Daroth Mortanis

I guess we shall never know.._________________"I believe the Jedi are weak so they give up their emotions. I believe the Sith are weak so they give up to their emotions. I lay somewhere in the middle, not afraid to keep my emotions, but afraid to lose myself in them." - Daroth Mortanis

I do know that we've moved away from the intent of the thread though (damn that's easy to do!)

So, yeah, all in all, playing Imperial is much the same as playing Rebel... with the exception of stronger rank adherence and formalities. The Rebels are a rag-tag "organization", and there's a lot of lee-way in how characters address one another, relate to one another and all that jazz; in the Empire, you're looking at a more formal military with a clear-cut ranking system and expectations of how differing ranks interact. For civilians, however, I suppose the main difference comes in a greater respect for law, and maintaining the status quo._________________Hotaru no Hishou; a messageboard about games, friends and nothing at all.